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From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy 1978-2012

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From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy 1978-2012 From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy 1978-2012 Marcia Rosen and Wendy Sullivan Acknowledgements The National Housing Law Project is grateful for the generous support from the San Francisco Foundation and the special interest given to this project by Vanitha Venugopal, its Director of Community Development and Investment, without which this report would not be possible. The Poverty & Race Research Action Council is grateful for the support of the Ford Foundation’s Metropolitan Opportunity division, which also supported this work. We also would like to acknowledge Derek Galey, candidate for a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School and a Masters in Urban Planning from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. As a legal intern with NHLP during the summer of 2012, Derek contributed a great deal of research, writing, enthusiasm and insight to this project. We owe a special debt to Calvin Welch and Olson Lee, who each gave generously of their time, exten- sive knowledge and expertise to this effort. They should also be acknowledged for their passion for and commitment to affordable housing. The history of San Francisco’s progressive housing policies would not have been the same without their lives’ work. Cover art courtesy of Fernando Marti, Co-director of the Council of Community Housing Organiza- tions, originally prepared for the "Yes on Proposition C" campaign. Report design by ampersand graphic design. From Urban Renewal and Displacement to Economic Inclusion: San Francisco Affordable Housing Policy 1978-2012 Marcia Rosen and Wendy Sullivan NOVEMBER 2012 About the Authors Marcia Rosen Ms. Rosen has been NHLP’s Executive Director since November 2008. She has an extensive back- ground in housing and community development, including service in local government and as an attorney and Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to joining NHLP, she served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, a local government agency dedicated to promoting community, economic, and physical development of San Francisco’s distressed neighborhoods and the development and preservation of affordable hous- ing, and as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, where she was responsible for representing the mayor before local, state and federal agencies and legislative bodies and for administering the City’s local and federal housing funds. Before her eleven year stint in public service, her practice at the Lawyers’ Committee included representation of low-income people and community organizations in a broad array of civil rights cases and issues, focused primarily on housing, land use, economic and com- munity development, and children and youth issues. Marcia was an active participant-observer of the events described in this report, first as an advocate representing the Council of Community Organizations and later as a public official designing and implementing the policies described herein. She has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In 1999-2000, she was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she was engaged in interdisciplinary studies at the GSD, Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Law School and wrote a case study on San Francisco develop- ment politics that was published by the Kennedy School. The opinions expressed herein are her own and do not reflect the views of the National Housing Law Project or any of its funders. Wendy W. Sullivan Ms. Sullivan is an attorney and planning consultant with particular expertise in affordable housing. She has over ten years of experience helping communities throughout the western U.S. identify their afford- able and workforce housing needs and develop plans to address those needs. Her work in conjunction with other team members has prompted county and community collaboration on affordable housing policies and development; initiated and supported the development of numerous tax credit, senior housing and deed-restricted ownership projects; and, specifically, assisted approval of the first perma- nent supportive housing development in Boulder, Colorado. She has a law degree from the University of Colorado, a master’s degree in regional planning from Washington State University and a bachelor in computer science (cum laude) from Colorado State University. ii Table of Contents I. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................1 II. Emergence of the Community Affordable Housing Movement ................................................................................3 III. Financing Affordable Housing: Where Do We Get the Money?...............................................................................6 Community Development Block Grant Program............................................................................................................6 Tax Increment ............................................................................................................................................................................8 Affordable Housing and Home Ownership Opportunity Bond..................................................................................9 Other Local Funding Sources.............................................................................................................................................10 IV. Evolution of Housing Policy.................................................................................................................................................11 1970s: Neighborhood Preservation and Tenant Protection...................................................................................11 Redevelopment and Urban Renewal......................................................................................................................................12 Residential Hotels..............................................................................................................................................................................16 Rent Control and Condominium Conversions ...................................................................................................................19 Shifts in Development Perspectives and Funding Opportunities..............................................................................21 1980s: Equitable Development, Neighborhood Preservation, and New Resources.......................................22 Generating Housing from Office Development.................................................................................................................22 The “Ring Neighborhoods” Fight Back: Protecting Residential Uses In and Adjacent To Downtown from Encroachment by Commercial Uses .......................................................................25 New Resources: Federal and State Funding is Added to the Mix ............................................................................26 1990s: Inclusive Redevelopment, the Dot.Com Boom, and Housing Preservation ........................................26 Inclusive Redevelopment: This is Not Your Grandfather’s Redevelopment Agency!....................................27 Preservation of Federally-Assisted Affordable Housing.................................................................................................30 The Dot.Com Effect and Challenges for the Next Decade ..........................................................................................32 2000s: Increase Affordable Housing, Remedy Past Losses of Housing, and Face New Challenges........34 Increase Production .........................................................................................................................................................................35 Remedy Past Housing Losses and Displacement.............................................................................................................37 The New Tech Boom.......................................................................................................................................................................37 V. Future Challenges ..................................................................................................................................................................39 ____________________ `1Low- dakfas;f and Moderate-Income Housing Gap.....................................................................................................................39 Demise of the SFRA and Birth of the Housing Trust Fund? .....................................................................................41 VI. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................45 iii Afterword: Considerations for Other Communities ...................................................................................................46 Resources ..................................................................................................................................................................................48 Appendix 1. Racial and Family Composition of San Francisco Residents and Households: Challenges Ahead ..........................................................................................................................................................................51
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